It's official: Internet domain-name company Verisign has launched one crazy (and at times creepy) campaign.
Which of the four videos from FCB Chicago is the most self-consciously bizarre? You've got the giant yellow smiley-fish tormenting a late-night bus rider; a cabbage in a convertible chasing a dude in an alley; a leggy frosted cake that dumps her date for a dance-floor suitor; and an oversize flirty bee in a bar with, um, pollination on hizzz mind.
The wacky work, themed "Make your idea official" and using the #InternetOfficial hashtag, touts Verisign's .com and .net registration service. (What else, after all, could an anthropomorphized disco dancin' dessert treat be advertising?)
The costumed creations—revealed in each clip as business mascots (the bee, for example, appears as part of the logo for the fictitious "HoneyMayo" condiment brand)—represent great ideas that entrepreneurs can have at any time, and each vignette dramatizes "that 'eureka' moment that comes with an idea," says the company. "So rather than flirting with, dancing around, or ignoring their idea, people should act and secure their domain name today."
The ads successfully make that point, albeit in an absurdist and roundabout way. A few online commenters have winced at the abundant weirdness, and whined about some brief cartoonish violence. I found the mild edginess compelling and in keeping with Verisign's message. Great ideas really can knock you around a bit before you get them under control and make them pay off.
CREDITS
Client: Verisign
Agency: FCB, Chicago
Chief Creative Officer: Todd Tilford
Group Creative Director: Teddy Brown
Creative Director: Tyler Hattery
Associate Creative Director: Alison Hammer
Director of Broadcast Production: Chris Bing
Producer: Lara Hurnevich
Management Director: Hollie Platte
